Tim Benz: ESPN predicts Le'Veon Bell to Houston, Antonio Brown to San Fran, Cleveland wins the North

Here's a little light-hearted reading I'm sure every Pittsburgh Steelers fan will enjoy .

ESPN.com's Dan Graziano made 10 predictions for the 2019 NFL season, within hours of the 2018 season ending.

Here are three of them that will catch the eyes of Steelers fans.

• Le'Veon Bell will wind up on the Texans and help them get to the Super Bowl before losing to the Saints.

• Antonio Brown will lead the NFL in receptions with the 49ers.

• The Cleveland Browns will win the AFC North.

A lot to take in. I know. Let's go one by one, in order.

Le'Veon Bell

Here's what Graziano had to say about Bell going to Houston. He doesn't think there will be a shortage of teams bidding near the range of what Todd Gurley got from the Rams — a four-year, $57.5 million contract.

"Bell will have a market for his services. The Jets, 49ers, and Texans are all in it, but Houston wins out by selling Bell on what he can do in an offense that features Deshaun Watson at quarterback and DeAndre Hopkins at wide receiver."

As for the cap-rich Colts, they keep acting like they aren't interested. I wonder if they will be tempted eventually, though. Oakland and Cleveland and the Bills could be in the mix, too.

Houston has $64.3 million in cap space. Only five teams in the NFL have more. All of them are among the teams mentioned above. The 49ers — another potential landing spot — are a team just one place behind them.

The Texans want to make a deep postseason run while that Watson-Hopkins nucleus is young and stable. Bell may be intrigued by becoming a part of a Pro Bowl trio with similar production to what he saw when he was linked up with Brown and Ben Roethlisberger in Pittsburgh.

Also, J.J. Watt and Jadeveon Clowney — if they keep him in free agency — aren't getting any younger on the other side of the ball. And Bill O'Brien is starting to feel some pressure.

This prediction fits. The Texans should be willing to spend. If Bell goes there, and Clowney stays, I could see Graziano's vision of Houston getting out of the AFC to go to the Super Bowl coming to fruition.

I still think the Jets — despite some recent waves to the contrary — wind up with, at least, Bell. Maybe both him and Brown.

In New York, the Jets are constantly trying to keep up with the Jonses when it comes to the Giants. Big Blue has Odell Beckham Jr. and Saquon Barkley. Countering with Bell and Brown would be a home run for Gang Green.

Antonio Brown

As far as Brown winding up in San Francisco, part of what Graziano writes is, "shipping him off to an NFC West team makes more sense. San Francisco has the cap space to give Brown a new contract if he wants one, and there's no doubt Brown knows all about what Julio Jones did in Atlanta two years ago as the No. 1 wide receiver in a Kyle Shanahan offense."

I'm on board with all of that.

San Francisco has $60.6 million left to spend if they want to restructure a long-term deal. Brown seems to relish a trade there. The 49ers may be able to use the second overall pick to trade down, gain equity in exchange, and then use the lower first rounder to swap for Brown.

AB would be going to a big market, with a promising young quarterback. The Steelers would be getting him out of the AFC. Furthermore, Brown seems enamored of the whole Jerry Rice connection and how the team and the city are drooling all over him via social media.

This would be my call, too.

Brown would be great there. As far as leading the league in receptions? That's a little bold. I need to see more from Jimmy Garoppolo before I believe that part.

Cleveland Browns

"The Cleveland Browns will win the AFC North."

Yeesh! It looks weird spelled out, doesn't it?

Graziano's rationale? Here's a portion.

"Things are falling apart a bit in Pittsburgh. And I predict some more growing pains for Lamar Jackson in Baltimore (though I still like him long term). Cleveland's third-place schedule will help, too. For instance, the Browns get to play the Broncos while the Ravens have to play the Chiefs and the Steelers have to play the Chargers."

He adds: "The Browns have the third-most projected cap space and eight picks within the first five rounds of April's draft with which to bolster their roster."

All good points. But I'll counter that by saying , "They are still the Browns."

I do think the Browns will get better. Unless the Steelers make a huge splash in free agency or the draft — contain your laughter — I think the Black and Gold gets worse.

Here are my AFC North picks — right now ... with a thousand things that will change between now and September.

1. Baltimore

2. Cleveland

3. Pittsburgh

4. Ohio State

5. The Bengals

Tim Benz is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tim at tbenz@tribweb.com or via Twitter @TimBenzPGH. All tweets could be reposted. All emails are subject to publication unless specified otherwise.